cooking, eating and writing

cabbage & cod

I thought I was being so virtuous when I thought of doing a piece of fish and some braised cabbage for dinner on Sunday. Simple, low-carb, easing us off of the rich food bandwagon. Ha.

The trouble was, I had half a head of Savoy cabbage in the fridge, needing to be used up. And since the last timeI made Molly Stevens’ recipe for braised Savoy cabbage with triple-cream cheese, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much else with Savoy (I didn’t print the recipe last time, but I’m sure going to now). And as it turned out, the only suitable cheese we could find at the supermarket was Cambozola – wowie. A mite stinkier than the Delice de Bourgogne I used before, with the added exciting feature that the bits of blue mold in the cheese remained behind as the cheese melted, creating strange little blue growths in the cabbage. Sounds revolting, I know, but YUM.

You could, of course, leave the cheese out. The braised cabbage smells delightful even before the cheese goes in. But why would you deprive yourself of total deliciousness? I ask you.

Oh, the cod was good, too – I smeared it with stoneground mustard and stuck it in the oven when the cabbage came out. It went well with the cabbage and cheese, which was frankly the important thing. And we opened a Willow Crest viognier which worked nicely.

Braised Savoy Cabbage with Stinky Cheese (serves two)

adapted from All About Braising by Molly Stevens

1/2 head Savoy cabbage, shredded

a few scallions, chopped

1 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup chicken stock (more or less – I didn’t measure)

1 1/2 ounces triple-cream stinky cheese, cut up into small pieces

Butter a small gratin or souffle dish. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Melt the butter in a cast iron pan and toss in the scallions and cabbage. Cook, stirring, until the cabbage is completely wilted and beginning to turn golden in places. Add the stock, bring to a boil and let cook a few minutes more. Dump it all into the prepared dish, cover tightly with foil and pop it into the oven. Wait 45 minutes, then take off the foil and wait another 20 minutes.

Take out the gratin, crank up the oven to 375°, and dot the cheese around the top of the cabbage. Back in the oven for 10 minutes (you can cook a piece of fish at this point, or perhaps make some toast. Toast would be good). Take the gratin out when the cheese has completely melted down into the cabbage, creating a silky, sweet, luxurious gravy in the bottom of the dish. Be prepared to lick your plate.